New Vibe Owner, with a couple of questions

[DVader]

Hello everyone,My wife and I are the proud owners of a Vibe AWD. We love this car! We test drove it on a Saturday, thought about it all day Sunday and bought her on Monday. On the window sticker, the car came with a 4.16 axle ratio option at no charge. I can't seem to find any information on this option on either the Pontiac website or in the product brochure. If 4.16 is the optional final drive gear for the AWD, what is the standard? I have been doing some surfing on the net for aftermarket performance parts, but most things that I have found say they are either for the Base ot GT. Is anything going to be available for the AWD?Thanks!

[NSimkins]

quote:My wife and I are the proud owners of a Vibe AWD. We love this car! We test drove it on a Saturday, thought about it all day Sunday and bought her on Monday. Congrats on the new Vibe and for becoming a member of the board! quote:On the window sticker, the car came with a 4.16 axle ratio option at no charge. I can't seem to find any information on this option on either the Pontiac website or in the product brochure. If 4.16 is the optional final drive gear for the AWD, what is the standard? I believe they add this here just for designation on each model (GT, Base, AWD) instead of apparently adding it within the standard options. The axle ratios are as follows per model:AWD: 4.16Base: 2.96GT: 4.53So the AWD's only option would be 4.16, Base 2.96, etc. at No Charge for you as it is included with that particular model.That sound right?quote:I have been doing some surfing on the net for aftermarket performance parts, but most things that I have found say they are either for the Base ot GT. Is anything going to be available for the AWD?What type of aftermarket parts are you looking for on the Vibe? I know certain options may not be available to you due to the AWD features of your Vibe.

[NovaResource]

Actually, according to GM:http://media.gm.com/division/canada/eng ... chnicalThe AWD is supposed to have a 4.24 final gear ratio, not 4.16 (not that there is a big difference).Here is a post I made about the transmission and final gear ratios for the different Vibes:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id ... =4923#4923

[DVader]

Thanks for the info. I'm looking for just about anything as far as aftermarket performance parts are concerned. Exhaust (cat-back or otherwise), Intakes or anything else that might get more power from the motor.I've read and heard that the reason the engine in the AWD version makes 123 peak horsepower is because the exhaust is more restricitive because of the AWD drivetrain. I crawled under the car the other day and the exhaust piping from the cat back doesn't seem to be too crowded down there. Is that the bottle-neck or is it closer to the motor?